Disasters like last year’s monsoon floods in Pakistan may only make news for a few days, but the real story lasts substantially much longer than media coverage of calamity-hit areas. The actual fall out of floods is often run over by other current issues by media that is obviously in search of something new every day, which results in pushing flood tragedies to the sidelines. In Pakistan, the incidence of floods has increased due to climate change leading to melting of glaciers, increased rainfall intensity, rapid development and loss of forest cover. Post-flood issues including loss of life and property, injury and death, hunger and disease and then a slow and painful recovery hampered by personal trauma and depression, lost incomes and livelihoods, lack of protection or legal support are just some of the back-stage features of the cruel water menace.
The most important aspect of floods, like other disasters, is that poor are often at the perishing end of the perilous events. When, as so often happens, disasters strike in already poor communities, there is another devastating loss – the loss of progress in development that push them a generation-behind in terms of social progress.
FEWS-an essential system
An emergency strategy to minimise the loss of life and property in the flood hit areas is always considered as a short-term damage control strategy. Countries with history of floods have adopted various defensive mechanisms throughout history to save their communities from the cruel jaws of death.
Following the advance and developing countries response to floods worldwide, Pakistan can benefit from the Flood Early Warning System (FEWS), which is an essential requirement to mitigate the havocs of flood. It is a system of advanced warning which gives prior notice of a potential flood event in the targetted areas, providing them with sufficient time to evacuate. This enables the local authority, its emergency partners and persons in the affected areas of town to take appropriate action to prepare for flood events and therefore reduce damage to property. The system is designed to give up to 6 hours prior warning of a flood event. This period of time can be of vital benefit to inform the Local Authority Staff, its Emergency response partners (rescue teams), Civil defence and the general public to mobilise a flood action plan (if the public is made aware of such a plan at the time of peace).
The system is based on threshold river level alarms at monitoring stations located at the upstream points that issue warnings based on pre-defined Warning Codes already known to the local residents during peace times. These codes are: Warning CodeEvent Type GreenAll Clear, No Flooding YellowMinor Flooding OrangeSerious Flooding RedSevere/Major Flooding The findings of Early Warning System might be displayed at conspicuous locations in the risky areas and must be updated regularly with the current Flood Risk Warning status (e.g. Green Code = All Clear, No Flooding).
Flood warning
communication
Keeping in view the highest mobile phone penetration in society, mobile phone data of local public living in a particular area can be registered at the monitoring office that can send SMS’s to all concerned at the time of an early flood warning. Sirens and public address system can also be utilised as additional features of FEWS. A toll free hotline can be added to the system for the public. The Indian government has exploited its technological advancement to ensure minimum losses in case of floods.
Vodafone in India has come up with a $15 mobile phone that has various applications to communicate important relief information. Also, under the “missed call alert” concept, it is now mandatory for the Indian government to call back if a missed call is received. This facility will ensure free information provision to the poor. “We need the opportunity to make informed decisions to deal with these disasters”, said Professor Vinod Chandra Menon, former member of India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), emphasising that if there is timely early warning about floods, lives and property can be saved.
It is to be understood that the FEWS will not reduce the probability of a flood event; however it may reduce the impact of the event by giving advance warnings and thereby safeguarding people and property. In this way, the FEWS aims to reduce flood risk. This technique has successfully been put in place by India and it has an 85 per cent success rate, which can further be improved through up gradation of the system.
Long-term pre-emptive measures
The FEWS is part-one of the anti flood strategy limited to one way of detecting flood occurrence and preventing unwanted incidents only. A 10 per cent increase in rainfall intensity will raise flood occurrences tremendously, due to increases in surface run-off and reduction in carrying capacity of both natural and man-made drainages. The second part of flood management is mitigating the flood by taking long term pre-emptive measures. This needs a lot of technical input and design work as follows:
n Analysis between loss of forest cover and flood occurrences must be done. There is a definite link as loss of forest cover causes loss of natural water retention ability. This will also help to identify downstream areas that will be directly affected during heavy and continuous downpour. Some of these areas might not have been flooded before.
n Old settlements and townships have old designs for drainage. With rapid developments around these areas, the carrying capacity of the drainage system will be reduced. Redesigning such drainage systems is vital to prevent drainage failures that cause floods.
n Minimum permeable surface designed for new townships as well as retention ponds with bigger capacity must be made mandatory. Permeable surface will absorb rainwater and reduce surface water flow. Retention ponds will be able to delay surface water flow to drainage systems. However, retention ponds need periodic maintenance to prevent failure of its functions.
n Local government land use planning needs to be audited. This is to ensure there is no over-development in low land or flat land areas. Too much covered lands will cause rise in surface water flow during heavy rains. Therefore, adequate flood prevention can be carried out effectively.
n There should be an audit for all flood prevention projects implemented and planned for the future to ensure its planning and execution meets the intended targets. Such a project usually causes more impact if we fail to carry out maintenance periodically. Therefore, a stricter Key Performance Index (KPI) should be set for agencies that carry out such projects, to ensure good operating conditions.
The need in Pakistan
Root-cause analysis is important for us to plan ahead. It urges all the related authorities to carry out the above suggestions before planning for mega projects in flood mitigation. Careful planning can prevent wastage of public funds and add more functions to the projects that are carried out.
The government of Pakistan needs to act quickly to minimise the risk of future disasters and secure its already depressed economy. Construction of new villages at raised levels and making strong foundations of the new buildings are some of the ways Pakistan has adopted to minimise future losses in case of a disaster. Climate and Knowledge Development Network (CDKN), an organisation that aims to support decision makers in delivering ‘climate compatible development’ is doing a study on making the new villages flood resilient.
Even though the solutions adopted by Pakistan to avoid future damages from floods sound useful, there is still a lot to be done. Good governance and strengthening of the country’s resilience are essential to manage the complexities of these disasters. It is of prime importance that the disaster prone population is prepared to face the challenges in case of floods.
Plausible measures
Today, there are many ways to help prevent and control floods. Flood-control dams have been constructed throughout history across rivers. Dikes and levees are built alongside rivers to keep them from overflowing during periods of high water. Canals are also used to help drain off extra water. Streams and rivers can be diverted to avoid highly populated areas. Regulation of floodplain development and urbanisation would reduce flood losses. Prevention of soil erosion also helps control flooding, which is why it’s a good idea to plant lots of trees, treat slopes and grads and create reservoirs to catch sediment and debris.
Government authorities must impose strict rules preventing people not to build houses in high flood risk areas as many people continue to live next to the coast, by rivers and streams, or in the middle of wetlands.
Ultimately, people cannot control nature. Tropical storms, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and melting snow will cause floods. People with homes in low-lying places, by rivers, or in coastal regions are in danger of being wiped out by them. In the past, these disasters have caused millions of dollars’ worth in damage. They have taken numerous lives. To survive, keep your cool and prepare yourself with the supplies and knowledge necessary for survival.
